O'Connell sat out Ireland's 16-12 loss to the Springboks on Saturday and Ireland's team manager Michael Kearney has confirmed that he is still struggling with a bulging disc problem.

"There's been no timeframe put on his return to play at this stage," Kearney said. "It's a question, I think, of just monitoring it as we go along and see where it ends up. There's no fixed date or estimate as to when he actually will return to play. It is out there in the public domain that he's had a couple of (anti-inflammatory) injections. He had a further injection on Friday.

"It will be managed for the next while and the hope is that it can settle down over the next few weeks. Certainly the nature of the injury means that it's a question of wait and see. It certainly isn't a black and white situation in terms of knowing the exact prognosis for what you do from this moment on."

And Ferris will also miss the match. "He has significant ankle ligament damage and is continuing to receive intensive treatment," Kearney said. "But at this stage, we don't expect him to be available for the game against Argentina on Saturday week."

Scrum-half Eoin Reddan is likely to miss Ireland's non-capped international with Fiji on Saturday due to a bruised ankle but Cian Healey and Donnacha Ryan are fully fit after post-match concussion testing.

Ireland are currently battling to secure their place as second-tier seeds ahead of the draw for the 2015 World Cup in December. Argentina's win over Wales has moved them up to seventh in the rankings and has pushed Ireland down to eighth.